Update 2: US Navy frees captain held by pirates

U.S. cargo ship captain Richard Phillips was rescued this evening from Somali pirates who had held him hostage on a lifeboat after trying to seize his vessel, the U.S. Navy said.

"I can tell you that he is free and that he is safe," Navy Lieutenant Commander John Daniels said.

According to initial information, snipers on U.S. destroyer Bainbridge some 25 metres away from the lifeboat opened fire when they saw one of the pirates point a rifle at Phillips. Three pirates were killed. A fourth pirate, who had been on the Bainbridge for negotiations, was captured. Phillips, who had been tied up inside the lifeboat, was not injured.

Maersk, owners of Phillips's ship Maersk Alabama, said it received word of Phillips' rescue from the U.S. Navy and informed the crew.

"We are all absolutely thrilled to learn that Richard is safe and will be reunited with his family," Maersk Line chief executive John Reinhart said in a statement.

US President Obama welcomed the operation and said the US was committed to halt the rise of piracy in the region.

The crew of the ship captained by Phillips fired flares, hoisted an American flag and jumped for joy at news of his rescue after his five-day ordeal on the high seas.

"We are very happy. He's a hero," a crew member of the Maersk Alabama shouted at journalists amid raucous celebrations aboard the vesse, which docked in Kenya's Mombasa port after a failed attempt to hijack it earlier in the week.

"We made it!" shouted one colleague, punching the air as a red emergency flare screeched into the night sky. Others hung a large Stars and Stripes flag from a rail high up the ship.

Another crewman said the pirates had hunted them for days before the attack on Wednesday, and he urged Barack Obama's administration to send more military forces to the region to stamp out the threat to shipping.

"Tell the president to get these guys. It shouldn't come to that," he said, referring to their pursuit. Like other elated crewmen who spoke to journalists, he declined to be named.

The media has camped out by the 17,000-tonne freighter since it docked in Mombasa late on Saturday, hoping to get word of how its crew fought off the pirates to retake control of their ship.

There has also been huge interest in how Phillips, a saxophone-playing father of two, apparently volunteered to board the lifeboat with the pirates in return for his men's safety.

But reporters' efforts have mostly been frustrated by tight security at the port as FBI officers debrief the crew on board.